Destruction
by naquada
Summary: The team flies to Chicago to face on of their most difficult case, will they'll be able to close it when one of their own falls victims of these crimes.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Destruction.

Summary: The team flies to Chicago to face one of their most difficult cases till now, will the be able to close it, when one of them falls victim of these crime. This envolves all the team, but there might be some JJ/Reid ship. Rated: It's harmless for now, maybe later it will get more intense.

Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own the characters of Criminal Minds

Author's notes: This is my first fanfic, so please nice, I AM NOT A PROFILER and sadly I don't know Chicago, so I apologize for any mistakes along the way, this is just coming out of my twisted mind, so I hope you enjoy reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it.

BAU HEADQUARTERS

WASHIGTON, D.C.

All the members of BAU team were sitting around the table of the conference room. Except for J.J. that was handing them folders with the information of their new case, while giving them an introduction.

"Chicago PD is asking for our help…" J.J. started "…for the last two months their murder rate has gone up, shootings, stabbings, fires, etc., turns out… they're all related"

"How so? These are all different M.Os as well as the victims" Morgan asked.

"A member of the CSU found this image carved in the body of a woman stabbed to death…" she said showing them the image on the screen "…she remembered seeing it on another crime scene she'd processed, so she looked for it… turns out it was burned in the wall of a burned building" once again showing the image on the screen. "She kept looking and she found the image three more crime scenes a shooting, a rape and a beating, all victims were killed" she continued showing all the images at the same time.

"So…they're multiple unsubs" Prentiss said.

"Or one unsub with multiple personalities" J.J. let slip almost in a whisper.

"Well we've seen it before" Reid defended after an awkward silence, knowing well who she was referring.

"We'll have to study the files, before supporting any of those theories" Gideon said ending any further discussions.

"OK, wheels up in an hour" Hotch said getting up.

In the airplane Gideon and Hotch sat opposite to each other, as did Emily and Morgan, while Reid and J.J. sat together on the couch. They were all studying the files while J.J. spoke with Detective Green, the CPD "liaison", she knew all the cases had different detectives, which surely would fight to hold on to their cases, _a bomb waiting to blow up_, she thought.

"OK, OK, we'll see you then" She said hanging up.

"All set?" Reid asked said looking briefly away from the files.

"For now" she said smiling, she wanted to say something to Reid about her comment earlier, but she didn't know what to say, she didn't know if she should apologize or brush it off, or what. Even though their friendship was practically back to normal, she didn't really know how to approach the subject of Tobias and all related to that case, so she didn't say anything she just went back to reading the files like the rest of the team, not knowing Reid was thinking the same about her.

-

"Guys listen to this" Morgan said while checking his files.

"This guy died April 7th and his TOD was declared around 9 and 10 p.m. in one side of the city, while this fire started at 9:25p.m., the same day in the other side, there's no way the same unsub committed both crimes" Morgan said.

"This shooting and this beating occurred on the same day around the same time" Emily said after checking the date and time of the crimes in her files.

They all checked their files. "All crimes were committed the same day at the same time, that settles it then, we're definitely looking at multiples unsubs" Gideon said not missing the breath of relieve both his younger agents let out.

"OK, what a stabber, a rapist and a beater are doing working together?" Hotch asked starting their usual airplane brainstorm.

"It doesn't make any sense, usually this kind of criminals have dominant personalities, they're being working together is extremely rare, it would ensue to much chaos, all of them wanting to… well… dominate" Reid spoke.

"Maybe they're competing" Emily said.

"I agree, but we have to take in consideration the other unsubs a shooter and a fire starter usually use those M.O.s because they're not able to come close to their victims, they're usually loners…" Gideon said "…they're not the kind who'd join this kind of competition, I must confess I'm at awe here, the chances of at least five different unsubs, with five different M.O.s working together is next to impossible".

Before any of the could answer J.J. cell started ringing.

"Agent Jareau"

"How many victims?"

"Is that confirmed?"

"OK, I'll tell the team, Thank you, yeah, we're almost there, like half an hour away"

"See you then" She said hanging up.

All of them looking at her expectantly. "That was Detective Green, he says last night around 9 and 10 p.m. five victims were found in different parts of the city, same M.O.s as the last murders and same image in all of them"

After a few minutes of silent consideration Hotch spoke "-today is April 21st just to weeks since their last killings, it was fast"

"The same time, they like darkness" J.J. contributed.

"More than that they like killing between 9 and 10" Morgan added.

"OK, if we want to give a profile for these unsubs anytime soon, we'll have to split up and work fast, Prentiss you'll take the rape cases, Morgan the beatings, Reid the fires, Hotch the shootings, I'll take the stabbings. Profile your unsubs as one individual, don't consider the other cases at all, check every detail of the victimology once we're ready we'll meet and find the overlaps. J.J I need you to keep this away from the press, as far as they know crime rate has gone up and we're looking for a serial killer, we don't have any comments at the time, we don't know yet how media exposure will affect the group dynamic, we can't risk a killing spree and I need you to help us check files up to a year ago, they're evolving too fast I don't think they're just starting"

They all nodded at they're assignments and started switching files and studying them. Before they knew they were landing, a few meters away a patrol and two SUV's we're waiting for them.

What do you think TO BE CONTINUED???


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Thanks to all of those who read and review. Hope you keep reading and enjoying.

-

Chapter 2

When the BAU team arrived to the two stores police station, they were received by a blue eyed man, who seem to be in his mid forty's, he had a tired expression on his face.

"You must be Detective Green…" J.J. said shaking his hand "… I'm Agent Jareau"

"These are Agents Hotchner, Gideon, Prentiss, Reid and Morgan" she continued introducing them all.

"Nice to meet you all, sorry it has to be under these circumstances"

"Nice to meet you too" J.J. answered politely.

"I don't mean to be rude, Detective, but we'd like to start working on the profiles, we're can we set up?" Gideon said cutting into the pleasantries.

"We've made some room for you, right here in the conference room, all the files are already in there…" He said guiding them to a door on the right about 20 feet from the main entrance "…Captain's office is right over there, as soon as he comes back, I'll introduce you, down the hall are the restrooms and a small kitchen, feel free to take what you want, detention and the interrogation rooms are upstairs, and my desk is over there…" He said pointing to a desk full of files on the other corner of the floor "… I'll leave you to your work, anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask".

"Thank you, Detective" Hotch said going into the room, which look just like a classroom, a board bolted to the front wall, a desk in front of it, and 5 rows of chairs distributed all around the room, the right wall of the room was made of glass, all covered by opened blinds.

"Detective Green?" J.J. said following him to his desk.

"Yes?"

"I need to take a look at your files up to year ago, anything with the same M.O., anything remotely similar to these cases"

"Up to a year ago?..." He asked surprised. "Man, that's a lot of work!!!"

"I know, that's why I'd like to start ASAP"

"Why the punishment?" He asked half joking.

"It's not punishment, It's a big case, as you said a lot of work, and we all help where we can" J.J. answered seriously, not liking his comment.

"OK…" He said clearing his throat "…I'll get the files and take them to the conference room"

"Thank you, detective, and one more thing; have you had any information leaks?"

"No, right now Captain Walker, the CSI that related the cases and me, are the only ones that know what's really going on"

"OK, let's keep it that way for now; once the team comes up with the profile, we'll brief the other detectives"

Detective Green nodded.

"OK, thanks again, I'll be waiting for the files in the conference room" She said walking away.

-

After a couple hours of silence in the conference room, Gideon spoke startling Emily, who was focused reading her files next to him.

"I'm ready, are you ready?"

"Yes" Answered Prentiss, Reid and Hotch at the same time. When they turned to look at Morgan he lifted his index finger asking for a second.

"I'm done"

"Good, I'll go first…" Gideon said "This unsub is stabbing his victims to death, both his victims were male, both stabbed at least twenty times…" He started

"Very angry guy" Morgan added.

"…Yes he is, I believe he is white, and young, I'd say 25 to 35 years old, average intelligence, average guy, he looks normal enough, I also believe they knew him, that's how he was able to come close enough to these guys to stabbed them, he is definitely not afraid of a mess, which makes me believe that he's been in contact with violence and death from a young age, he comes from a broken home, he was abused and I believe one of his parents was murder, maybe in the hands of the other. What surprises me is that even though his attack was savage, he was careful enough to leave the abdomen of his victims intact, leaving room to carve this symbol…" He took a moment to breathe and to let the information sink in "… Both his victims besides being men, both were involved with law enforcement, one was a retired cop, the other one a defense attorney, I'll call ask Garcia to see if they worked together somehow"

After he was done Hotch started "My unsub used a .45 Magnum to kill both victims, one male, one female, both also involved with law enforcement, the female was a retired social worker, the male was a security guard, until the time of his death he worked at a public school downtown, both were shot 7 times in the chest and even though the gun was fired from at least 8 feet away, the shots were very precise, and with a last shot to the head, when they were already dead, the symbol was drawn with a marker on both their abdomens…" He showed them the pictures "… The unsub didn't come close to them until he was sure they were dead…"

"He was very angry with his victims, but was not brave enough to approach them…" Reid contributed.

Hotch nodded and continue "…he's white, 25 to 35 years, he's extremely good with guns, probably had some kind of training, maybe in law enforcement, but I bet he's been in contact with guns since childhood, both his victims were shot in secluded areas, he was afraid of being seen"

After a minute of silence, Morgan started.

"OK, now me…" He said spreading the pictures of his files in the board "…as you can see, this unsub didn't hold back one bit, according to the EMI he kept beating the victims even though they were already dead. This is a very, very angry guy, he's physically fit, a big guy, very strong, the first victim, an ex-marine, was 6.3 and weighted 200 pounds, and still he managed to beat him to the ground, he worked as a P.E. teacher, I believe he is 20 to 30 years, white, not very smart, he was abused as a child, must likely went to foster care, I bet he spent some time in jail, where I bet he was abused by other inmates, which made him exercise to be able to defend himself. The symbol was also painted in their bodies, one in the arm, one in the leg, both so bruised that you can barely see it in the pictures. The second victim was also a male, 25 years old, a junkie, in and out of jail, turns out he was on foster care until he turned 18, Garcia is looking who his foster parents were."

"Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?" J.J. asked innocently.

"Yes, but let's wait until we've heard every profile, before jumping to conclusions" Gideon said in a tone, that made J.J. remember her teachers in elementary school. She hated to admit it, but sometimes she felt like her opinions didn't count, because she wasn't a profiler, that was when Hotch's suggestion to become one, was more and more attractive. She only nodded in response.

"Ok, my turn now…" Reid said "…Turns out, that my fires were not really fires…" He said considering his words for a second "…well, they were fires, but they didn't start like fires, actually in both cases a bomb exploded before the fires started, according to the firemen that investigated the scene, the unsub used pipe bombs, which didn't have enough power to blow up the whole building, but enough to kill anyone in the proximity and to start the fires, the ingredients can be found in any hardware store and you can find instructions to build them in the internet, so that's a dead end. The first victim, a foster dad, he was sitting in his couch watching T.V. while mom and foster kids went out to buy ice cream, the pipe bomb was placed under it, any shifting could have been enough to made it go off, the unsub used gasoline in the scene, but not as an accelerant, but to burn the symbol in to the wall…"

"… so he had access to the scene and enough time to place the bomb and paint the symbol with the gasoline…" Prentiss said.

"Yes, that's what I believe, I also believe that he is or was at some point under the care of these foster parents, I think he is white, under 25, very intelligent, very meticulous, a social outcast, he's M.O. makes me think he has or at least believe he has a physical defect, that has crippled his ability to function in a society. The other victim doesn't make much sense to me, he was a contractor, no family, his friends said he didn't have any enemies or any connections to law enforcement…"

"…but still the unsub had access to him and to his house, maybe and employee or a so called friend" Gideon said.

Reid nodded.

After nodding, Gideon and the rest of the team looked expectantly at Emily.

"OK, I'll started with the victims. The first one, Lilly Adams, a foster mom, until two years ago, when her husband died. The second, Mary Guyton, was a teacher, had a husband, two sons, no foster kids. Both were raped in their homes, in their beds. This unsub, was extremely violent, in addition to the rape, he beat them so badly that if he had not strangled them, the internal bleedings would have been enough to cause death, which makes me believe he was also abused when he was a child, by some one close, maybe his mother, he is young, no more than 30 years, strong, he spent at least two hours with each victim, so he probably watched them, he knew when he would have enough time with them, the symbol was burned into their skin, in the inside of their right thighs..."

"He branded them, made sure everybody knew they were his..." Hotch interrupted.

Emily nodded.

For a moment they all considered the information.

"How did they not notice before? Not the detectives, not the EMI" Morgan asked outraged, that the miscommunication in the station was at a point they hadn't related this cases before.

"We're not here to judge their job, we're here to profile this unsubs, so let's just do that..." Hotch said warningly, even though he had been asking himself the same question "...We have a group of 5, all young, all white and abused during childhood…".

"…All in contact at some point with the foster care system or law enforcement…" Reid added.

"…And all using the same symbol to express themselves" Emily said,

"Symbol of what? … Revenge?" J.J. asked.

"Possibly..." Gideon answered her. Thinking that this was one of the things he appreciate the most about J.J., the non profiler way she looked at things, many times it gave them all a new perspective. "...Let's give the names of the victims to Garcia, maybe she'll be able to find a connection, between them all. Let's also interview the witnesses, J.J. how are you coming along with those files?"

"It's a little slow, but I'll get it done" She said confidently.

"I know you will…" Gideon said with a small smile "…Prentiss, Morgan interview your witnesses and get back as soon as your done. Hotch, Reid, let's go. We'll meet here, discuss the last details and give the detectives our profiles" He knew pairing up would take longer, but after what had happened to Reid and J.J., he wasn't willing to risk their safety to save a few hours of foot work.

Once they were gone, J.J. got back to her "punishment" as Detective Green had called it.

-

"Who are those guys?" He asked casually.

"They're FBI, they're helping us with a case" was his answer.

"What case?"

"You know I can't tell you that"

"Oh! Come on, I won't tell" He insisted.

His only answer was to shake his head slowly.

He stopped, but deep down he knew, they were here because of them, he had to tell them ASAP.

"Listen, I gotta go, tons of things to do, I'll see you later"

"Take care, see you at dinner" He said waving goodbye.

-

"What else did he say?" Trevor questioned him.

"Nothing, he wouldn't tell me, but they're here for us, I know it"

"We can't be stopped, we're so close" Tim said angrily.

"We have to, they're FBI, they will catch us" Vic said nervously.

"They won't, not if we get them first" Shane said punching his open right hand.

"Vic is right, they don't know anything yet, if we stopped now…" Will was interrupted when Trevor said angrily "That's enough of you pusses, we agreed we wouldn't stop 'till it was over, no matter what and IT IS NOT OVER YET…"

"We have to get rid of those agents…" Shane said in the same tone as Trevor.

"Not only them…" Trevor said more calmly "…we have to make sure no one else comes back after us, we need to destroy their files, their evidence, anything that can connect us to all this… Will, do you think you can make it happen?"

"…But he is gonna be there" Will answered nervously.

"So what?..." Tim yelled "…He is the target, what if you get to him a little sooner than planned?"

Will didn't say anything for a moment, but the way they were all looking at him made him come out of his reverie and answer "Yeah, I can make it happen"

"Today?" Trevor asked once again.

He nodded and got up to leave.

"Shane go with him, help him out" Trevor said, even though he really meant _Watch him, make sure he does it._

"OK"

-

"Hi, what are you doing back here?" He asked surprised.

"I forgot a notebook I need, came back to pick it up" He answer trying to sound as normal as always.

"Oh! OK, you found it?"

"Yes... so, where are the feds?" He asked casually.

"Working…"

"Mhmhmh"

"… Why?"

"It's just I've never met an FBI agent, I though it'd be cool, if I could meet them…" He asked pleadingly.

"They're busy on the field…" He said, but seeing his face of disappointment, made him give up "… but one is working here in the conference room if you want to meet her"

"Really?" He asked excited.

"Let's go. I'll introduce you" He said getting up and walking him to the conference room.

-

"Agent Jareau?"

"Yes?..." J.J. asked looking away from her files. "…Captain Walker, what can I do for you?"

"Sorry to bother you I just wanted to introduce my son to you. He really, really wanted to meet an FBI agent" He said smiling.

"Oh…hi" she said standing up "I'm agent Jennifer Jareau. Nice to meet you" She extended her hand smiling.

"Hi, I'm Will. Nice to meet you too" He said shaking her hand.

After some small talk the Walkers left the conference room and J.J. got back to her work, not noticing the backpack sitting next to door, waiting to explode.

-

"So, what did you think?" Captain Walker asked his son.

"She's hot" Will answered.

"Will…" He said warningly.

"OK, she is nice and she seems smart. Thank you for introducing me…" He said smiling "… I better go, I have tons of homework" He said saying goodbye for one last time to his father.

"OK, love you, see you soon" Frank said to his son. Smiling at him, glad that after all he'd been through he was still the same.

He only smile reminding himself _He is lying, don't believe his lies, you mom is dead, because she bought all his B.S. _

_-_

Shane was waiting for him outside the station when he came out. "Did you do it?" He asked anxiously.

"Yes I did it" He said walking away from the station, pretending he wasn't talking to Shane.

"How much time do we have?"

"10 minutes, so keep walking"

So that what they did, they kept walking, they were 6 blocks away when Will stopped. "5 minutes to go" He said looking back, thinking _Maybe they didn't have to die, maybe if I run I'll be in time to get them out._

But there was nothing he could do now, Shane wouldn't let him and he would be right, "He had to pay for what he had done". So he just stood there silently until a big bang was heard and the ground shook and sirens started to wail from every direction, it wasn't until Shane shook him that he started to walk again, getting away from the body of a man he once love more than life.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Interviewing the families of their victims turned out to be more time consuming that they'd thought by the time we're on their way to the station night had fallen all around them, worst was they we're coming back practically empty handed, their interviews had failed to give them a more specific profile or another lead to follow.

"Maybe Garcia will come up with a name…" Reid said hopeful to Hotch and Gideon from the backseat without getting a response. After a few minutes of silence he spoke again "… maybe J.J. has something knew, I'll call her" He said pulling his cell phone out and dialing the number he knew by heart, not caring they were 15 minutes away of the station.

After a few rings his call went to Voice mail: "…You're calling Jennifer Jareau's cell phone, leave your name and number and I'll call as soon as I can…Beep…"

"She is not answering" He said almost to himself.

"Maybe there's no signal in the conference room" Hotch said taking a turn to his left.

"We're almost there, she'll brief us, when we get there" Gideon said to his eager young agent.

-

Morgan and Prentiss were following their team mates close behind, since they caught up with them a couple of hours ago and their conversation was pretty much the same.

"I'll call Garcia, maybe she came up with something while we were gone" Morgan said.

"What are the chances of her finding an important piece of information about a case and not let you know right away?" Prentiss asked without taking her eyes of the road.

"Pretty, pretty slim…" Morgan said disappointed. Prentiss just smiled sadly, knowing things were going to get worse before they had a break in this case.

-

Two blocks before the police station a police officer stopped them, "Sorry, street is closed; you have to take a turn to the left"

"We're going to the police station, this is the way" Hotch said trying to ignore the feeling of dread forming at the pit of his stomach.

"Sorry, sir but…" The officer stopped when he saw Hotch badge "… Leave the car at the next block, walk from there and ask for Captain Taylor, his on charge"

"The car behind is with us, let them through" Hotch said starting the car again.

Hotch parked the car a block away like he was told and they all came of the car, while Morgan and Prentiss did the same.

Once the car was parked; Hotch, Gideon and Reid got down; Prentiss and Morgan from the other car. They all started walking towards the station, "What the hell is going on?" Morgan said keeping up the pace with the rest of the group.

Before any of them could answer the station came into view, even there was no fire, it was obvious that there had been at some point, as it was surrounded by fire trucks, patrols and ambulances treating injured officers. The right wall next to the entrance had collapsed and what was visible of the inside was completely scorched. They all stood there unable to believe that a few hours ago this looked completely different.

Gideon was the first to speak "J.J. We have to find J.J. Hotch what's the name of that captain"

At the sound of her nickname they all came out of their reverie and started to search the crowd without success.

"Taylor…" "Excuse me, Where's Captain Taylor?" Hotch asked the first firefighter he saw.

"You see the group standing next to the Ladder 56 truck, he's the tall one" The man answered barely lowering his pace.

"Hotch, let's go talk to him" Gideon said walking towards the man.

-

"Captain Taylor?" Hotch asked firmly.

"Yes" The grayed hair, blue-eyed man answered.

"Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, from the FBI…" He said shaking the tall man's hands "… What happened here?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that" he said not even looking at him.

"Please, sir we don't mean to meddle with your work, it just… a friend of us was there" Reid said pleadingly.

After seizing the group up, he started explaining "A bomb exploded here…" He said pointing at some building planes "Luckily the smoke detectors worked and the sprinkles activated, preventing the fire from spreading, but… "

"Wait" Hotch said before he could continue "Is that the conference room?"

"Mhmhmh" He said nodding "That's where we set up, my agent was there" He said looking straight at the ruined building, all the BAU team was and two seconds later Reid started to head to the entrance.

"You can't go in" Taylor said holding his arm, "She is in there" Reid said trying to free himself.

"Listen to me son, the fire is out, but the building might not be stable, my men are going through every room, looking for more survivors, she might be out already what's her name?...What's her name?" He asked again louder when Reid didn't answer.

"Jennifer Jareau" Hotch answered, since Reid was still looking straight at the building.

Taylor snapped his fingers at the other officer, who handed him a folder, once in his hands he said "This is a list of everyone out dead and alive, everyone we already identified" and he started to read.

After excruciating minutes, he said "She's not here"

The team didn't say anything and was Captain Taylor who broke the silence once again.

"Listen I don't mean to be this blunt, but if she was in the conference room, there's no way she survived, the place was wiped with the explosion and nobody could've survived"

Suddenly Hotch saw Detective Green sitting in the back of an ambulance a paramedic checking his Blood pressure so he walked towards him.

"Detective, are you OK?" Hotch asked him.

"Yes, just a few cuts and bruises" He said flinching when the paramedic started to clean one of his wounds.

"I'm glad… Detective, did you see Agent Jareau?" He asked trying to hide his concern.

"I'm sorry last time I saw her she was talking with Captain Walker and his son in the conference room, I don't think she ever left… sorry" He said knowing what the look on Hotch's face meant. But he got no answer, Hotch turned on his heels and walked towards his team.

"What did he said?" Reid asked with a mix of hope and concern in his voice.

"That the last time he saw J.J., she was in the conference room" Hotch answered after a moment of silence, looking straight into the ruined building.

Once again the team remained silent, Gideon expression tightened even more, Morgan's eyes were watery and he kept rubbing his eyes as if cleaning them, Reid and Emily were openly crying.

J.J. was dead.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: Please read and REVIEW!! I love reviews, they make me update sooner.


	4. Chapter 4

INSIDE THE BUILDING

"Watch out with that wall, Tom, seems pretty unstable" Firefighter Bobby Kelly said through his mask.

"Yeah, thanks man" Tommy Walsh said back.

"Those offices are empty, I'm gonna check the back, you check down the hall" FF Kelly order.

"OK, meet you back here in five" FF Walsh said heading to the restrooms. First went into the men's restroom, they were the farthest and they stood practically untouched, aside from the door that was completely wrecked. No one was in there. He headed to the women's restroom, placed closer to the explosion, so it was more damaged, the door had been blown to pieces and there was a lot of debris in the floor, the smoke was so thick he barely saw his hand five inches away, Tom was trying to find the wall for guidance when he tripped, unable to stopped the fall he extended his arms, that's when he felt it, clothes, something soft, he came as close as he could and he realized he tripped with a woman half-buried in the debris, he stretched to touch her neck, after a few seconds of looking he found it, a weak pulse, she was alive.

"Bobby!!" He yelled as loud as he could through the mask "Bobby!!!!! BOBBY!!!!" After what must have been like two minutes Bobby finally came through the door "What's wrong, Tom, are you OK?" He yelled since he couldn't see his friend.

"I'm Fine, I found a woman, she's alive, and we need the EMT's here" Tommy said almost running out of breath.

"I'll call it in" He said fiddling with his radio.

"Ladder 56, this is FF Walsh, I need EMT's assistance we found another survivor. Do you read me" After a few minutes of nothing but static he spoke again "Ladder 56, we have another survivor, DO YOU READ ME?" Nothing.

"Damn the radio is off, I'll go bring them in. Stay with her man." FF Kelly said while he left the room.

"OK" Walsh said, checking the pulse of the woman once again.

"Miss, can you hear me?" He said slapping her lightly on the face. "Miss, Can you open your eyes?" When he got no response he talked again.

"Don't worry we're gonna get you out of here, you'll be fine" He said starting to push the debris of off her.

The smoke was starting to clear and he could see her better now, her hair was blonde or at least he thought so, it was so covered in dirt and blood that it was hard to say, her face was the same, there was a large gash in the right side of her forehead and there were little cuts and bruises all along her face, but still he could see how pretty she was.

-

OUTSIDE BUILDING

The remaining members of the BAU team had not moved, had not talked amongst each other; they just stood there mourning their friend, not knowing what to do next. Their friend was gone, their files and evidence were gone, and so… they just stood there.

"Is there anything I can get you?" Captain Taylor said, almost in a whisper, knowing quite well what it was like to lose a friend.

"No, thank you…" Gideon said as if in a spell "… You mind if we stick around, we want to wait for her body to be found"

"No problem, if you need anything, just ask" He said leaving the group to catch up with Bobby Kelly who was coming out of the building.

"Cap, We have a survivor, in the woman's restroom, tried the radio but was no good. We need the paramedics"

"Is it safe?" The captain asked concerned for the safety of everyone.

"Yes, the way is clear and there no structural damage to the walls there"

"OK, Lewis O'Neill! Come here" He said forgetting about the mourning people 20 feet behind him and focusing on the task at hand.

Before Walsh could continue checking for injuries his partner arrived with the paramedics, so he stood up and give them the space to work.

They kneeled on both her sides and EMT Lewis checked for her pulse when he found one, he addressed the unconscious woman "Miss, Can you hear me, open your eyes?" When he got no response he pinched the skin of her sternum and asked again "Miss open your eyes?" this time a little moan escaped her lips, but she didn't follow his request. "Start an IV, I'll get her on the neck brace" Lewis said to his partner.

Once the IV was done O'Neill checked her quickly for other injuries, and she noticed her right shoulder was dislocated, her arm was broken, a few ribs broken on the same side, her leg was broken too. Apparently she'd been thrown to the wall by the force of the blast and was her right side that had suffered the most.

When she was set on the board with the neck brace and the Velcro holding her firmly to it, the paramedics lifted her with the help of the firefighters and move her out of the restroom.

"I need a gurney in here!!!" Lewis yelled once they were out.

Reid was drawn out of his reverie by this and without really looking, without any real reason he ran towards the paramedics, he just knew he had to go see who were they bringing out. Once he was close he saw her and he understood why he had sprinted towards them, with the rest of the team trailing behind him.

"J.J... Is she alive?, is she ok?" Reid asked feeling the tightening sensation in his chest give away a little.

"She needs immediate medical attention, sir, please stay back" Lewis said in a firm voice.

And that's what they all did when an alarm, made the paramedics stop their way to the ambulance.

"SAT's dropping" Lewis said as he took out his stethoscope to check her lungs, "There are no breathe sounds on the right side let's intubate" He said while getting what he needed and right there in front of her teammates he intubated J.J. in a swift move.

"OK, They're going back up, let's move" Lewis said resuming their way to the ambulance.

"Can I go with you?" Reid asked pleadingly once again.

"Hop on, the rest can follow in your car, we're taking her to the Rush University Medical Center" He said addressing the other four people trailing them like puppies.

For Reid the ride in the ambulance was a blur, he could hear what the paramedics were saying, he could see what they were doing, but his genius brain, only focused on one thing, or better said someone, J.J. He only saw her, through the layer of tubes and dirt and blood, all he saw was her. He wasn't really a religious man, but since he saw the paramedics rolling J.J. out of the building he had asked God non stop to spare her life, to let her be OK, making all kind of promises from not forgetting to go to mass ever again, to donate to some charity, to giving his life in exchange for hers, everything, for her to live, to be alright. He was still focusing on J.J. and his dealings with God, when the ambulance came to a halt in front of the ER entrance

There was a bunch of doctors and nurses waiting for them and as soon as they got J.J. out of the ambulance an ordered chaos ensued, someone yelling vitals signs, someone else ordering a variety of tests, and suddenly a face stopped him in his tracks.

"I'm sorry, sir, you can't go in, you'll have to wait. Are you a relative?" The nurse asked.

"Yes" He lied; he knew he wouldn't get any information otherwise.

"Good, I need you to fill these forms please, as fast as you can" He said handing him the papers and turning on her heels.

He started reading, the forms asked name, age, profession, social security number, and the questions went on an on, and he realized he could only answer a few of them, he didn't know if J.J. was allergic to anything, he didn't know if she had pets, or a history of cancer in her family, so he did the only thing he could've think off, he took out his phone and dialed.

"You're talking to the queen of cyberspace, what can I do for you pumpkin?" Garcia asked cheerily. Damn she didn't know, silently he coursed.

"Garcia, has anybody else called you?" Reid said with a somber voice.

"No, you're my first today, what's up?" She said confused.

"Garcia, there was an explosion in the police station…" He started

"What????!!!! When???!!! Are you guys Ok?????!!! Why didn't you call me before????!!!! " She asked frantically.

"… Garcia … Garcia!!" Reid said twice finally calming her, even though he was about to lose it himself.

"J.J was inside…" He said almost yelling, effectively shut her up. "… She is alive, but injured in the hospital, we still don't know how badly, but the reason I'm calling is I need you to access her personal file, there's some information I need"

After a moment of silence which was very unusual for her she said "I'm in, tell me what you need" Reid could tell she was crying, but said nothing and one by one they fill the forms required.

-

He was still on the phone when the rest of the team arrived.

"Allergies?" He asked.

"None"

"Any previous surgeries?"

"A knee surgery when she was 22. That's it"

"Any current disease?"

"No"

"You have the name of her emergency contact?"

"Yeah!! Actually Gideon is" Garcia said surprised.

"Really, that's weird… anyway that was the last one, I'll call you when…" "No, your not, I'm on my way" Garcia interrupted and hanged up.

"Was that Garcia?" Morgan asked Reid making the presence of the whole team known.

"Yeah, I needed some information…" He said showing them the forms he just filled "… she says she's on her way" He said looking at Hotch kind of expecting him to be angry, but he only nodded.

"Have you heard anything?" Prentiss asked concerned.

"No, they didn't let me in, a nurse said to fill the forms and wait here until her emergency contact arrived, which turns out to be you" he said looking at Gideon.

"Yes I am" Gideon said nonchalantly. Seeing them all a little surprised, he added "She asked me a while ago, said her aunt was too old and too far away, to deal with an emergency situation, she didn't want to put her in that position" He said trying to hide the fact that right now he felt too old and too close to deal with this.

"I'll get these forms to the front desk and see what I can find out" Gideon said taking the forms from Reid's hands.

"I'll go with you" Reid said trailing him.

"Let's go and get some coffee" Morgan said to Emily and Hotch.

-

"Good afternoon, ma'am…" Gideon said as politely as he could "I'm Jason Gideon, the emergency contact for Miss Jennifer Jareau, here are the forms you asked us to fill"

"Thank you" She said starting to read them

"Do you know anything about her?" Gideon asked once again very politely.

"She is in Trauma Room 2, doctors are checking her injuries, and they'll come find you as soon as they know anything" She said after checking the computer.

"Thank, ma'am" They both said quietly.

-

When they came back Morgan gave a cup of coffee to Reid and Emily gave on to Gideon.

"What did she say?" Hotch asked quietly.

"We have to wait" Gideon said while taking a seat.

And so they did for about an hour, until a young doctor came up to them and asked.

"Jason Gideon?" She asked.

"Yes, that's me" He said standing.

"I'm Dr. Newman…" She said shaking his hand "…If you come with me to the family room, we can talk more comfortably" She said pointing a door inside the emergency room. When she saw all were following she hesitated.

"It's OK, They're family" Jason said sensing her trepidation.

Once inside she asked them to take a seat "Miss Jareau condition is critical, but right now she's stable, she has a concussion, luckily there's no visible damage in the CAT SCAN, her right arm is broken and her shoulder dislocated, she has 4 broken ribs on her right side, one of those ribs caused a pneumohemothorax, which means the bag that surrounds the lung is filling with air and blood collapsing it, so we put a tube to drain that air and blood, since the bleeding hasn't stopped on its own, we'll need to operate, she has a pelvic fracture and her right femur is also broken, now we have two options for treatment, immobilization or surgery, I need you to decide which one…" She stopped for air and to make Gideon understood so far "… immobilization would imply precisely that… she would be bed bound for at least 8 weeks, which can bring many complications like ulcers, infections, and so on, besides there's no guarantee the broken bones will heal properly… " "Surgery on the other hand implies inserting a surgical nail and maybe a plate to align the pieces of bone, recovery time is much shorter, she can start physical therapy as soon as 5 days after the surgery, but there's the possibility of a mayor complication, the bone could break in half or there could be an hemorrhage, unfortunately the fracture in the pelvic bone is very close to the pelvic artery, a nick and she'd bleed to death"

After some consideration Gideon asked "Which one would you chose?"

"Is not my place to say…" "I'm not asking for a decision, Dr. I'm asking for advice"

After nodding she said "If it was my family I'd chose the surgery"

"OK… Do the surgery" He said after more consideration.

"Please, sign here" After Gideon signed while praying his decision was the right one. Dr. Newman spoke again "I'll let you know when the surgery is over, you can wait upstairs in the OR waiting room".

They all nodded and follow her outside.

Once they got to the new waiting area which thankfully was almost empty, unlike downstairs. Reid said matter of factly "You're not only her emergency contact, you're her medical proxy".

"Yes, I told you her reasons" Gideon answered distracted; he was still wondering if he chose correctly.

After that they all remain silent, each in his or her own world, each wondering what would happen if J.J. didn't make it. That's how Penelope Garcia found them.

"How is she?" She asked making everybody jump out of their sits.

Reid took a quick look at her appearance before answering. She obviously been crying, her eyes and nose were red, she looked disheveled and she had her luggage with her.

"Her condition is critical, but stable" Reid said repeating the doctor's words. "Right now she's in surgery"

"What the hell does that mean???!!!" She asked almost hysterically.

"Means she's alive, and we need to pray for her to stay that way" Gideon said with a sad smile on his face.

A tear rolled down Garcia's face "OK" She sat next to Morgan, who hugged her tightly and didn't talk anymore.

TBC

A/N: I was going to wait 'till next week to post this chapter, but I had it done already, so… Enjoy!!!! I want to thank all those who sent their reviews; it's thanks to you I'm still writing this story. I also want to ask all those who read but don't review, to do it, REVIEW!!!, PLEASE!!! A few kind words or some constructive criticism are always welcome, remember this is a work in progress and your opinions can change its course.


	5. Chapter 5 REVISED

A/N Before you go ahead with the story I want to say "I'M SORRY, SORRY, REALLY SORRY" I know it's been ages since I last updated, but real life was getting in the way, my job mostly (Why can't food and cable be free? That way I could just write fics all day), anyway back to the topic, I'm sorry, but I'm happy to tell that the story is almost done, I just have to dot the Is, cross the Ts, so I won't leave you hanging again, I'll post a new chapter every week. That said you most know that I made some changes in this chapter you should check out. 

-

Chapter 5 Revised

"What were going to do? We lost the files, the pictures, all the evidence that these crimes ever happened" Prentiss said knowing how hard it'd be to continue their investigation.

"Not all is lost…" Garcia said, pulling her laptop out of its case "… J.J. sent me the pictures asked me to see if I could find what this symbol meant and she sent me a set of unidentified prints found at one of the stabbing crimes scenes to see if something pop up" 

"Did you find something?" Reid asked eagerly.

"I couldn't identify the prints, but I have something about the symbol, turns out the big tribal design right here…" She said pointing at the photo in her laptop "…means destruction and the little one drawn next to it means revenge" 

"So that's their gold" Gideon said as if all understood what he meant.

"What?" Garcia asked confused.

"Destroy all those who wronged them, until they're stopped…" Hotch said.

"… or until they're done" Gideon finished.

Garcia was about to say something when a ring tone interrupted her.

"Agent Hotchner" He said to the person on the other line.

"OK, ok thank you for the information, I'll contact you once I've talked to my team" He said after listening for a while.

"That was Captain Taylor, he said they found most parts of the bomb, apparently it was placed inside the conference room, next to the door… he also said that a few minutes after we left someone delivered an envelope with a drawing in it, he just send me the picture" he said showing them the image on his cell.

"The same symbol…" Morgan said "…so the unsubs know we're after them"

"Yes, and they're trying to stop us" Gideon said with contained rage.

"How did they know? There has been no press release and there's been no leak of information…" Reid said "… J.J. made sure of that" He ended somewhat sad.

"This unsub had access to us, to our information, to the police station, enough access to go into the conference room and place a bomb without being notice" Morgan said outraged.

"You think only one went in" Garcia asked, reminding them all about J.J. and the way she brainstormed with them.

"More than one would've been suspicious, besides only one of the unsubs uses this M.O." Morgan explained.

Garcia only nodded.

"We should check every cop who left the station today" Prentiss said. 

"I agree, but let's wide the search, look for anyone with access to the police station cops, lawyers, maintenance, cleaning crew, anyone with enough access" Gideon said.

"Why only those who left? What if he stuck around to see his work or to avoid suspicion?" Garcia asked.

"This unsub resorts to bombing because he is too afraid to face his victims, someone this coward, would be as afraid of pain as he is of killing someone at close range, without knowing how badly he could be injured, I bet he didn't risk getting hurt at all" Morgan tried to explain.

Once again Garcia only nodded.

After a moment of silence Prentiss spoke again "OK, we're finally getting somewhere, but again, what are we going to do?"

"First we find a new place to set up, organize what little we have…" Gideon said "… the police station is out of the question"

"What about the firehouse? Captain Taylor could help us" Morgan said.

"I'm sure he would, but if this unsub got access to the station, maybe he also has access to the firehouse. I don't want to sound paranoid, but maybe we should keep this investigation to ourselves, for now" Hotch said.

"We could set up at the hotel, it has internet, so Garcia could help us from there and we could bring some extra agents from the Chicago Field Office for her and J.J.'s protection and keep everybody else out, no cleaning crew, no bellboys, no more policeman…" Reid said waiting for them to think about that.

"Don't they have to ask us to stay?" Prentiss said remembering the many times J.J. said the BAU had to be asked by local authorities to take over a case.

"There was an attempted murder of a federal agent, it is our jurisdiction and we don't need the local police for now…" Hotch said firmly. 

"What if Strauss wants to take us of the case" Prentiss asked again.

"She won't I'll make sure of that…" Hotch said firmly, but continued once he saw the doubt in the face of his team members "As far as she knows the profiles are not ready and we are the only team of profilers available, she doesn't have a choice"

"How are we going to handle the press, I'm sure by now they know what happened in the police station and it won't take long for them to notice J.J. is not running the press conferences" Reid asked reminding all of them the importance of their teammate's work.

"We won't make any comments, I'll ask Captain Taylor to inform them about the explosion, without details and to keep J.J.'s name out of the victim's list" Hotch answered.

"What about telling them it was a gas leak or something, that would piss these guys off, make them foolish" Morgan said.

"I think it's too late for that now, they know we're here, they know we're after them, that won't fool them" Gideon said sadly.

The rest of the team only nodded.

"OK. I'll call the C.F.O. and go talk to Taylor, I'll meet you all at the hotel in 2 hours to regroup" Hotch said. 

"I'll go with you…" Gideon said "Emily, Derek stick together, Reid, Garcia do the same. Maybe we're not the specific target of these unsubs, but right now we shouldn't take any chances"

"I don't mean to dismiss their abilities, but I think is better if I stick with Garcia and Emily with Reid, you know, to make sure we're all OK" Morgan said apologetically.

Before there was an answer, Dr. Newman walked towards them, about three hours had passed and Gideon asked while standing up "How is she?"

"Mr. Gideon, the surgery was a success her lung is fixed, but there was a complication during surgery Jennifer started bleeding from the pelvic fracture, Dr. Goldstein, the orthopedic surgeon wanted to wait until she was a little more stable to fix her pelvis and her femur, unfortunately, this forced him to operate ahead of schedule, he's in the OR with her now and he's doing everything he can to help her. As soon as he's done, we'll come find you…" They all were dumbstruck trying to process what she just told them, so after a moment of silence she continued "… I'll go back to the OR right now, any questions you have you can address them to the desk nurse or wait for us to come out" she said ready to leave.

"Doctor…?..." Reid asked in a whisper, but loud enough for her to hear "…Is she gonna be OK?" He asked fearing the answer.

After a moment she answered "Doctor Goldstein is the best orthopedic surgeon in this hospital, he'll do what he can, but you have to remember that even though Jennifer's condition was stable, her body is under a lot of strain, the chest surgery was a lot and now this complication… " She said feeling sorry for the man or better said kid in front of her and his friends "… I don't know… I don't know if she's strong enough to resist"

"She is" Gideon said confidently before she could continue.

Laura Newman knew how slim the chances of her patient surviving this were, but she didn't have the heart to tell this people that her friend needed a miracle, one that even Dr. Goldstein couldn't provide. So all she did was smile sadly at them and left. 

TBC…

A/N I hope the wait was worth and you enjoyed this chapter, please read and review!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: As promised here's a new chapter, you might recognize some parts from the old chapter 5, but there's new stuff too. As always I hope you like it, and I hope you read and review.

Chapter 6

"Morgan is right…" Reid said breaking the silence in which Dr. Newman's words left them "…I'll stay with Emily"

"Man, I didn't mean…" Morgan said apologetically "…Is OK, Really!..." Reid interrupted "…the last thing we need right now, is any more of us in the hospital or worse dead!... I'll stay with Emily" He finished in a whisper that screamed of fear for his friend and the disappointment and frustration he felt at his own weakness.

"Reid…" Hotch said, before anything else was said "…Prentiss stay here, make sure J.J. is not alone, Morgan and Garcia go back to the hotel set things up, Gideon and I'll catch up with you there"

They all nodded at their assignments.

"Let's go, girl…" Morgan said giving his hand to Garcia to help her stand up "…I'll take your luggage"

"Call us as soon as you know something" Garcia said to Reid and Prentiss before heading to the elevators.

"We will" Emily answered to Garcia's back.

"Once we figure out what to do next, we'll let you know" Hotch said before leaving.

The ride to the hotel was getting too quiet for Morgan's taste, he was concerned not only for J.J., but for Garcia as well, the usually talkative technician was staring at the window, with tears in her eyes and so quiet that at first Morgan thought she was asleep.

"Don't worry, girl. She is going to be fine!" Morgan said trying to comfort Garcia.

"You don't know that for sure" She answered with a tone of defeat in her voice.

"Sure I do, J.J. is a fighter! She'll be fine, she'll be kicking reporter's asses before you know it" He said squeezing her left hand.

"I want to believe you…" Garcia said retrieving her hand "…I really do, but if I believe you and J.J. doesn't… if she doesn't make it, my heart is going to break, even more than it is now, and I don't think I can survive that" She said wiping the fresh tears rolling down her face.

Morgan pulled out of the road and stopped the SUV, then turned to Garcia and took her face in his hands "She'll make it, she'll be fine! And if she doesn't, I'll be here for you and you will survive, I'll make sure of that!" He said looking straight into her eyes.

Garcia was speechless, she just stare back into his eyes for a while and nodded while she said "I believe you".

Morgan let go of her face and got back to the road, the rest of the way was as silent as the beginning, eventually Garcia fell sleep, and Morgan kept his eyes on the road praying he didn't end up lying to his friend.

With the rest of the team gone, Reid and Prentiss made small talk for a few minutes but the concern for their friend and the case made them retrieve to their own minds, and like before they sat in silence when Drs. Goldstein and Newman came out of the OR hours after their teammates had left.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Abraham Goldstein…" He said shaking Reid's and Emily's hands "… I'm the orthopedic surgeon in charge of Jennifer, the surgery was successful, we fixed the fracture in her femur with a nail and we use a plate to fix the pelvic bone, we had to give her a transfusion due to the blood loss, but her vitals are strong and steady and I expect a full recovery if no other complications arise" He finished with a smile on his face.

Once he saw the relieve in their faces, Dr. Goldstein excused himself and left.

"When can we see her?" Reid asked anxiously to Dr. Newman.

"Not for a while, she'll be in recovery for a couple of hours and then she'll be transferred to the ICU, we're gonna keep her there sedated and with a ventilator, to give her body and specially her lung a chance to rest"

"For how long?" Prentiss asked.

"Well it depends, it could be 3 maybe 5 days, depends on how her condition evolves" Dr. Newman answered.

"Is she going to be OK?" Reid asked once again, this time with more hope than fear.

"Like Dr. Goldstein said, the surgeries were successful and her vitals are stable, but she is not out of the woods yet, there's still risk of more bleeding and infection, and her road to recovery will be a long one…" She said considering her words and Reid's expression for a while "…but yeah! I believe she'll be alright" She said smiling sharing Reid's sentiment of hope.

Once she left Reid had to choke a sob, he didn't know why but now he knew J.J. would be alright, all he wanted to do was cry, but didn't want Emily to see so he asked her to call everybody while he went to the restroom.

"I hope you know what you're doing Agent Hotchner…" Erin Strauss said on the phone after he finished explaining the situation "…this could become a very tricky situation"

"I know ma'am, but we don't have a choice there's no one else available and the profiles are not done yet, and it already is a tricky situation, but we're all professionals and we'll follow protocol and make sure this ends with a conviction" He said defending their position.

"It better does, if the reputation or the BAU or the FBI are stained in some way, I'll have your head and your job, understood?" Strauss said menacingly.

"Yes, ma'am!" He said, before Strauss hung up on him and went back to sleep.

"What did she say?" Gideon said a little concerned.

"The case is ours, the CFO will send four agents for back up" Hotch said grimly.

"And?" Gideon said knowing well there was more.

"And if we don't solve this she'll have my job…"

Before Gideon could say something, Hotch opened the door and got out of the car.

"Aaron…" Gideon said trailing behind him.

"Let's talk about this later, Jason…" He said anxious for a topic change "…Captain Taylor is waiting" Gideon's answer was a nod, but Hotch knew it wasn't the end of it.

Captain Taylor was staring at the floor when Hotch and Gideon arrived to the scene "Captain?" Gideon called him without getting acknowledged.

"Captain Taylor!" Hotch said louder bringing the man out of his reverie.

"Agents sorry… I… this is where we found the body of a good friend" Taylor said teary eyed.

"Captain Walker?" Gideon said understandingly, remembering where his office was.

"Yeah…" Taylor answered clearing his throat "… we met 30 years ago and we've been… were friends since then… Anyway you're not here to hear me talk about that, follow me please" He stood up and walked towards the scorched conference room before any of them could say a word.

Once inside they saw the destruction made by the explosion, the glass wall was shattered to pieces, the files J.J. had been reading were now ashes, the floor full of scorched pieces of wood and glass, Hotch was speechless, Gideon shuddered at the thought of J.J. being here during the explosion instead of the restroom.

"Here is where the bomb went off…" He said showing them a black stain on the floor "… the material we found is consistent with at least 4 pipe bombs hidden in a back pack…" Taylor said showing them an evidence bag with a piece of burned cloth "… Come on there's something else" He said leaving the room "Gates!" Taylor yelled and a few seconds later a firefighter came out of the ladies restroom.

"Yes, sir!" Gates said once he approached them.

"Where's the bag I gave you?" Taylor asked.

"Right here, sir" Gates said pulling the bag out of his pocket and handing it to Taylor.

"This is the log book…" Taylor said giving it to Gideon "…we recovered it from the front desk intact; I thought your team would like to take a look…"

"Yes, thank you" Gideon answered.

"You can have it and you can take this as well…" He said giving them the piece of cloth he showed them before, and the pieces of a pipe bomb "… we already have other pieces being analyzed on the lab"

"Thank you, Captain. Is this all you've find so far?" Hotch asked curious.

"Yeah! But is been only a few hours there's still debris to be removed and bodies to be identified" Taylor said a little offended.

"Captain, I didn't mean to offend you, I'm just anxious to solve this" Hotch apologized for his tone.

"It's OK, I understand we all had friends and family here…" He said sadly, staring at the spot where his friend was found "… How's your agent?" He said remembering the blonde his men pulled out of the rubble last night.

"Still in surgery" Hotch answered without more explanation.

"I hope she gets better" He said understanding his unwillingness to talk.

"We should go, Aaron, there's much to do" Gideon said touching his shoulder.

"Yes, thank you, Captain, you've been very helpful" Hotch said turning towards the door.

"Agent Gideon, if there's anything else in this building, I'll find it and I'll let you know"

"We appreciate it, Captain"

"Anything to help you catch this son of a bitch" He said with a look in his eyes, that told Gideon how much he had lost, and how badly he wanted revenge.

Once they were in the car Hotch spoke "I shouldn't have talked to him like that"

"No, but he understands what you… what we are going through…" Gideon said calmly "… You wanna talk about what Strauss said" Gideon asked after a moment of silence.

Hotch shook his head "Not now, there's much to do…" He said repeating Gideon's earlier words "…let's get this evidence back to the hotel"

After a few minutes Hotch cell rang, with Emily's number display on the screen. "Prentiss what's wrong?" He asked concerned.

He remained silent while Prentiss explained J.J.'s condition. "Excellent, thank you Emily, we're on our way to the hotel, after picking Garcia and Morgan up, we'll see you there" He said hanging up.

"Seems J.J. is gonna be OK…" Hotch said with an expression that to anyone else would seem grim, but Gideon knew him well, he knew how happy Hotch was, he could even see the subtle smile in his lips "…that's what matters Jason, the welfare of my team, so please don't mention Strauss threat, I don't want to put anymore pressure on them"

Gideon only nodded, silently thanking God for his favors and proud of his teammate, he had become an excellent leader, but most important he was an excellent human being.

"That's great news! Yes, yes, we'll wait for them, thank you Emily" Morgan said with a smile in his face and as soon as he hang up he saw Garcia staring at him waiting to hear the news.

"I told you! J.J. is out of surgery, Dr. says it'll be a while but she is going to be OK and…" Before he could finished he found himself in a bear hug, Garcia was holding him or better said clinging to him so tight he almost couldn't breath, then he heard her crying "…Hey! Hey! It's OK, J.J. is going to be OK, why are you crying?" Morgan asked a little confused.

It was a while before he got an answer "I was so worried, I kept imagining how it would be if she wasn't here… and now I'm so happy I just wanna cry" She said cleaning her face with her sleeve.

"I thought you said you believed me!" Morgan said a little outraged.

"99 of me did, but there's was a little pesky 1 that didn't" Garcia said through sobs and laughter without letting go of him.

Morgan didn't say anything just hold her as tightly as she was holding him for a while, before squeezing her and saying "I told you she'd be alright, girl! ..." He said with teary eyes "… now we wait for Hotch and Gideon"

When Hotch and Gideon arrived to their headquarters/hotel room Garcia and Morgan were sitting in front of the computer checking the little they had.

"How did it go?" Morgan asked

"Captain Taylor gave us this…" Gideon said handing him their new evidence "… He says the bomb was in the conference room in a backpack, he sent some evidence to the crime lab to analyze and he gave us this.

"Morgan, Garcia, we're going back to the hospital to meet the Chicago agents, I want them to know who we are, to make sure nobody besides us and the doctors go into J.J.'s room after that I want you to check everyone in the logbook, if there's anything, anything at all that looks suspicious to you let me know and Morgan analyze the bomb see what you find out"

"OK" They answered at the same time while getting ready to leave.

"Hi, guys…" Garcia said as she came closer to Reid and Prentiss with the rest right behind her "…any news?"

"Dr. Newman said we can go see J.J. in a few minutes, they're gonna transfer her to the ICU…" Reid began to say, but stopped when he saw the doctor come out of the OR with J.J. who was being moved out in a gurney.

Reid's sudden silence made them all turn to see, they didn't dare to come closer, and from we're they we're standing, only glimpses of white and red and blond could be seen, before any of them could move she was gone, the OR team took her through the ICU entrance.

"She looks like crap" Garcia said slightly relieved that even though she didn't look good, she was still alive.

"She has a reason, Girl, she just had surgery, we all look like crap and we have no excuse" Morgan said with a little smile which grew on him as well as on the rest of the team, for the first time since everything started, they were all feeling their shoulders a little bit less heavy.

"Agent Hotchner? " A tall dark haired man asked.

"Yes?" Hotch answered looking at the three men and the woman standing before him.

"I'm Agent Jack Castleman…" He said shaking his hand "… these are Agent Robert Nelson, Lisa Harris and Christopher Brown, we're here at your request"

"Thank you, I'm Agent Hotchner, this is Jason Gideon, Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, Emily Prentiss and Penelope Garcia, have you been informed of our situation?"

"Yes, I spoke with Chief Strauss"

"Well then, you know I want someone to stay here with Agent Jareau and with Garcia"

"Yes, I am aware, but Chief Strauss gave different instructions" Agent Castleman said.

"Excuse me?" Hotch said outraged.

"She suggested you were too involved with the case…" Castleman started saying

"Of course we're involved, she is our teammate" Morgan yelled interrupting.

"…Listen to me please…" Castleman said almost as loudly as Morgan "…I understand what you're going through, not so long ago we were in a similar situation…" He said pain obvious in his eyes "…that's why we want to help you, what Strauss wanted is that we took over the investigation, but I want to make a deal with you" He said waiting for a response.

"We're listening" Hotch said.

"One of your agents stays here, with one of my agents, the rest of us go with you, you run your investigation as you wish, we just tag along, that way if someone asks we can say we were part of the investigation, even say we run it, if it comes to that…" He said letting them process it "Believe me when I say we don't want to meddle with your work, but we don't want some scumbag lawyer to make a defense out of this either"

"OK, we can work with that" Hotch finally said.

"Prentiss, stay here with Agent Harris, Agent Nelson you're with Reid, Agent Brown, you're with Agent Gideon, Morgan And Garcia stick together, Agent Castleman I'll pair up with you…" Hotch said receiving only nods for answer.

"…But before we go, the doctor says we can go in and see Agent Jareau, we'll like some time, please"

"OK, we'll be waiting at the main entrance" Castleman said and lead his team towards the elevator.

They all remained silent for a few moments, before Hotch broke their reverie.

"Jason… you should go in first" He said knowing quite well how the possible consequences of his decisions were weighing on his shoulders and how relieving it would be to see J.J. was OK, or at least know she was going to be.

"OK…" He said with a deep breath "… I know you all want to come in, so I'll try to be quick"

They all nodded in agreement.

"I'll be out soon" Gideon said getting up.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hi, I'm here to see Jennifer Jareau" Gideon said to the nurse standing in the ICU nurse station.

"OK, put this on…" She said handing him a blue robe, a surgical cap and something to cover his mouth "… and follow me"

"You can touch her, hold her hand…" the nurse said warmly "…she won't break, but be gentle and do not, I repeat do not touch anything, the tubes, The IVs, The heart monitor, everything is there for a reason, if you have a question, ask me" she said as she continue walking towards the third cubicle on the left.

"Here she is" She said pointing to the room.

"OK, Thank you" Gideon said.

He stood at the entrance for a moment, he just saw J.J., but now being right next to her, was shocking, seeing her like this, there was a large tube coming out of her mouth connected to a ventilator, which was making a loud rhythmic sound, now he could see the sutured gash in her forehead, the bruises and cuts with more clarity, even though she was sedated, he could see the pain in her expression, or at least he thought so, after being a profiler for so long, some times he couldn't help but to see only the bad, to expect only the worst, to see pain where there was none, there couldn't be, she was sedated. He could see her chest rising and falling under her right arm which was on a sling, and a tube that suddenly appeared beneath her arm and was connected to a rectangular transparent container which had some blood on it and at the moment was bubbling. Her left arm resting to her side with and IV attached to the back of her hand. A blanket covered her mid section and most of her legs (couldn't they give her something warmer this place was too cold), what he could see was that her leg was not on a cast but her thigh was bandaged and her leg rested in a few pillows, both her feet were covered with some kind of socks that covered her all the way up to the knees.

After his examination was over he said holding gently her left hand "I'm sorry that this had to happened to you, I know if you were awake, you'd say is not my fault, I know is not my fault, still I can't help thinking that if you had come with us, none of this would have happened and I can't help thinking that if the choices I just made on your behalf were not the right ones, it will be my fault"

He went quiet for a moment, his mind traveling back to the day J.J. asked him to be her medical proxy.

_There was a knock on the door of his office. "Come in…" He said briefly looking up from the file he was reading._

"_Sir…" J.J. said hesitantly "… do you have a minute?"_

"_Sure, sure come on in…" He said closing his file "… What's going on? There's a new case already?"_

"_No… no, I… I just want to talk to you about something personal" She said nervously._

_Gideon nodded, encouraging her to go on. _

"_Well, I've been doing a lot of thinking since our last case, and… well…" She said clearing her throat "…If something ever happened to me… my aunt, she is my emergency contact… but I really don't think she could handle a situation… mhmh!... something like that and… well… I wanted to ask you to be my emergency contact and my medical proxy" She said as fast as she could without taking a breath, kind of like pulling a band-aid, the faster the better._

"_Why me?" Gideon asked with a strange mix of doubt and warmth in his voice._

_J.J. looked him straight in the eye and said "Because I trust you… because I consider you family… and because I know if the time comes you'll be strong enough to do what needs to be done…" _

"_I'll be honored" He said smiling sadly, he was flattered that she chose him, but on the other hand he was sad, because her eyes were a little less bright than they used to be, he could see the fear and the guilt that Tobias Hankel and his dogs, and Reid's ordeal had left there._

"Where is he? ..." Reid asked anxiously "He said he'd be out in no time, it's been fifteen minutes already"

Just when he finished his tirade, Gideon walked out the ICU.

They all looking at him expectantly "She's seen better days, but she's a strong kid, she'll be fine" He said smiling confidently, hoping it'd be enough for them, hoping they couldn't see his concern.

After a few moments Hotch said "Reid, you should go in now"

"OK" He said walking slowly towards the entrance as if he was afraid of going in.

When he finally stepped in, the nurse gave him the same instructions she gave Gideon.

"Hi, J.J…" He said almost in a whisper "I don't know if you can hear me, but I want you to know we're all here for you, even Garcia came… I thought Hotch was going to have a fit, but he didn't say a thing, I guess he wants you to have as much company as you can…" He stopped talking for a minute and then he continued "We'll figure out who did this to you and we're gonna make them pay, we will, I promise" He said cleaning the tears rolling down his face, he was used to hide his emotions, but since the Hankel case, he had been finding it more difficult, especially when it came to her, a bond formed between them after that, it made him sick that it was born of something so traumatic, but he was glad that it was there at all, there was a time when he thought the incident would destroy their friendship, but slowly they had overcame it and now their relationship was stronger than ever.

After collecting himself he spoke again "You know, I've been thinking there's this new Italian place a few blocks from Quantico, Garcia and Morgan say it' s great maybe we should go, when you get better…" He kept talking to her about everything and anything, until the nurse came in to tell him visiting hours were over, it was time for him to leave, so slowly he leaned down to kiss J.J.' s forehead a left the room.

Only Garcia and Morgan were there when he came out. "Where's everyone?" Reid said searching the floor.

"A nurse said we would have to wait till later to see J.J., because visiting hours are over, so they left, we're waiting for you and for Emily and Agent Harris to come back, Em was starving so they went downstairs to the cafeteria, are you hungry?" Garcia said rubbing his arm up and down.

"Not really, no" He said sadly.

"How is she?" Garcia asked knowing seeing J.J. put him in this mood.

"She looks so small and so pale and…" Reid's voice breaking a little "…you know, every time I think of J.J. I think of movement, of energy, color, I don't know, she looks so unlike her"

"She'll be fine, pumpkin she's though, haven't you see her manhandling those reporters"

Reid and Morgan smiled a little at the memories "You're right, she'll be fine…" before he said anything else Emily and her temporary partner arrived with coffee and muffins.

"Thanks for waiting guys, you should go Hotch and the rest are waiting for you downstairs…" Emily said after drinking a sip of her coffee "I'll call you if anything changes"

"Ok, take good care of her" Morgan said squeezing her arm while they left.

"I will" Emily answered, not minding being left behind, because she knew how important her mission was.

"So we are we heading?" Castleman asked once Garcia, Morgan and Reid came into view.

"Back to the hotel, all we have is there" Hotch said leading the way out of the hospital

TBC

A/N This was a slow chapter, I used a lot of scenes from the old chapter 5, that I thought should stay in the story and many of you seem to like, but don't worry there's more to come, as always read, enjoy and of course review.


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm sorry"

Will Walker sat alone outside the morgue for twenty minutes before Detective Greene came out with a grim expression.

"I'm sorry Will…" Detective Greene said sadly "…it is your father…" Will kept staring into space "…I know how hard it is to lose a parent, let alone both, and I know you don't believe it right know, but you will be OK, your grandparents will be here soon to pick you up" Still getting no response he spoke again "…I promise you Will, that I will find who did this to your father and I will make them pay" Detective Greene said hugging him, confusing his shock with grieve.

"I wanna see him" Will said hesitating, he wasn't feeling the relieve he thought he would feel once his father was dead, not by a long shot. Instead he felt a guilt he was sure would soon overwhelm him and he didn't know what to do, his friends had vanished since the bomb went off and that was making him even more angsty.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Will…" Greene said concerned "there's a lot of damage, you shouldn't remember him like that"

"I want to see my father!" He said raising his voice.

After a moment of consideration, Greene nodded and opened the door to the morgue.

Will walked right behind him until they reached one of the tables; there beneath the sheets lay what was left of his father. Greene looked straight in his eyes, before uncovering the remains.

Before Greene realized what happened, Will fell with a thump to the floor.

"This is what we have" Hotch said showing their reinforcements the fingerprint, the photos and the logbook, they had.

"No match on the prints?" Nelson asked.

"No" Garcia said disappointed.

"What about the log book?" Brown said.

"We have to check the names and interrogate everyone" Hotch said.

"Wouldn't it be easier if we got the local police to help" Brown asked again.

Hotch and the rest looked at him as if he was crazy "I thought you were briefed…" He said to Castleman, then he remembered Strauss didn't know about the profiles, so he continue "…we have reason to believe that at least one of the unsubs is either a cop, or is very close to them, we don't want to risk a leak or worst another attack" Hotch finished almost in a whisper.

"I see… we… Strauss didn't mention that. Sorry" Castleman said apologetically.

"There's about thirty people that sign in yesterday, if we split up the interviews will go faster" Gideon interrupted.

"I agree" Hotch said, the rest only nodded.

Agent Harris was starting to get uncomfortable, it had been almost three hours since the rest left and the woman next to her had said like three words during the entire time, so she broke the silence pulling Emily out of her reverie "So, you've known Agent Jareau for a long time?"

"Not really, I've only been with the BAU for a year, but you know how this kind of work brings you closer to the people you do it with…" Agent Harris nodded encouraging her to continue talking. "…besides J.J. was nice to me since the beginning, she and Garcia…" "J.J.?" Harris interrupted "… Yeah! That's how we call her, short for Jennifer Jareau…" "…Oh! I see…" "… so we kind of bonded pretty quickly"

"What about the rest of the team?" Harris asked half curious, half anxious to avoid another long silence.

"Well, I came in to replace another agent, she was shot by an unsub in her house, she came back after a few months of recovery and I guess she couldn't stand the pressure because she went nuts or something and quit, then I came in without them authorizing it… " She left the rest hanging in the air "…but I think slowly they've been warming up to me" She said thinking about the last year with them.

"That's good… I've been in your shoes, but in my case it didn't work so well…" She started saying, before being interrupted by Emily's ring tone.

"Oh! Sorry…" She said standing up "…Prentiss!" "Agent Prentiss, how are things going over there?" Emily rolled her eyes when she heard the voice of Erin Strauss on the other line. "Isn't Agent Castleman briefing you?" Emily said with contained rage "He is, but I thought your input in the situation would be helpful" She said with a tone that clearly stated she was enjoying the situation very much, which was pissing Prentiss off to no end. "Agent Jareau is still in ICU, but her doctors are hopeful that she will pull through this…" "What about the case, Emily?" Strauss interrupted her which only serve to anger Prentiss even more "I wouldn't know ma'am I was assigned to Agent Jareau's room, you'll have to call Agent Castleman for that information" She answered amazingly calmed.

After a moment of silence, Strauss answered in an angry tone "Are you forgetting about our agreement Agent Prentiss?!..." "…No, Ma'am! But that's all the information I have at the moment" Emily said with a tone that matched the other woman. "Very well, I'll call you later and by then I hope that you have a little more than that!" Strauss said hanging up.

Emily came back and sat next to Agent Harris with a sigh "Everything OK?" Harris said.

Emily answered with a sad smile and after a moment and not really knowing why; she told the other woman everything about Strauss threat and her mixed feelings about the whole thing, her fear that Hotch and Gideon would use this as an excuse to get rid of her, if they found out.

"That sounds like blackmail to me, is she even aloud to do that?" Harris said outraged.

"She is my superior, I guess she can do whatever she wants" Emily said sounding as powerless as she felt.

"Maybe is not my place to say, but my advice: Talk to Agent Hotchner, tell him everything, you said it yourself, they've warmed up to you, your part of the team, they're not gonna leave you to the wolves or bitch in this case" She said smiling.

"Maybe you're right, I'll think about it…" Emily said ending their conversation "…Listen, visiting hours are just starting, would you mind covering for me, while I check on J.J.?"

"Sure, go ahead, I'll keep watch out here"

-

After a couple of hours, the teams met back at the hotel, ready to share their findings.

"What did you find?" Hotch asked them in general.

"Nothing useful, we interviewed two cops, two lawyers and a parolee, all accounted for, there's no way any of them could've planted the bomb" Morgan said disappointed.

"We found something interesting…" Reid said "…Thomas Marshall, a parolee, charged with arson, he signed in half an hour before the explosion and no one has seen him since…" Reid said.

"He could be our unsub, or he simply could be a victim did you asked Captain Taylor?" Gideon asked.

"Yeah, he is not on the list, but they're still going through the rubble" Agent Nelson said.

"Until then Marshall is on our suspect list, Garcia find all you can about him…" Hotch said "…Gideon, did you find anything interesting?"

"No, everyone we interrogated has an alibi, all of which we could confirm" He said in his usual tone.

"We found something worth checking…" Hotch said "…one of the cops in our list has a file with I.A., a mile long, we didn't have a chance to talk to him, apparently he vanished, his name is Eric Gomez, Garcia, check him as well"

The tech nodded and head to her laptop ready to find what kind of underwear these men used or how many times they used the toilet if necessary.

"What do we do?" Brown asked.

"There's nothing to do until, Garcia does her magic" Morgan said frustrated.

TBC

A/N As promised a new chapter, I hope you guys like it, remember I'm waiting you're reviews, don't be lazy just push the little button at the bottom of the page and write, PLEASE!!


	9. Chapter 9

"Tell me you found something, girl?" Morgan asked hopeful once he finished the room service dinner, he ordered for himself and Garcia, the others had gone downstairs to the restaurant, but he didn't want to leave her alone and no matter how many times he had asked her to take a little break, she refused, 'you're all sitting on your asses until I find you something to do, when I do I will rest, promise!' she said every time without taking her eyes of the screen.

"Found it!" She yelled after a few minutes.

"Thomas Marshall's mother lives 30 minutes outside the city, I couldn't find her, because she uses her maiden name now, Smith, maybe he's hiding there…" Morgan asked to continue "… and Eric Gomez has three different houses in Chicago, one's under his wife's name, the other two, under his siblings names, but he made all the payments" Garcia ended triumphantly.

"Excellent, I'll call the others, asked them to get up here".

Emily came out of the ICU twenty minutes later, with a grim expression and a little more pale than usual and once again sat next to Agent Harris.

"How is she?" Harris asked concerned for the younger women.

"Doctor says she is going to be fine…" She said almost in a whisper.

"But?..." Harris pushed.

"She seems so young and helpless almost like a child… so different from the woman I know…that if I didn't know who she was I… I'm not sure I'd recognize her…" Emily said with teary eyes.

"Of course you would, that's always the case with good friends, you can pick them apart from a crowd, maybe you feel that way, because you don't want to see her hurting" Harris said squeezing her arm.

"Yeah, maybe you're right…" Emily said trying not to shiver when she remembered herself walking towards J.J. cubicle and looking at her bloodied and broken body, surrounded by tubes and machines that from her point of view looked like something taken from a science fiction movie "…There was this time when J.J., Garcia and me went out, and this guy tried to hit on me saying that he was an FBI agent…" She said after a moment of silence trying to think of that J.J. and not the one laying in ICU, still fighting for her life. "…We all started asking him questions about the Bureau, asking him to show us his badge and gun and… he was all, yeah! I'm 007… then we take out our badges, his face was priceless, man! That was so funny" She said laughing at the memory.

"Seems like you had a really good time" Harris said laughing as well.

"Yeah! We did, at least until J.J.'s phone rang and we had to go back to work" Prentiss said smiling sadly.

-

"Thank you for taking care of my grandson, Tim" Rita Walker said to Detective Greene while she walked him to the door.

"You're welcome ma'am and once again sorry for your loss…" He said sadly "…if you need anything, please, don't hesitate to ask"

"Thank you" She answered before closing the door of her now deceased son's house.

Once in the house, she headed to the kitchen to make a sandwich, which she placed in front of her grandson a few minutes later.

"Honey, you should eat something!"

"I'm not hungry grandma" Will said feeling nauseous at the sight.

"Anyway, you need your strength; the next couple days will be hard, even harder without any food on your stomach" She said hugging him from behind silently crying for her son and her grandson.

"Grandma?..."

"…Yes, honey?..."

"… Don't cry, please" Will asked sadly.

"I'm not, honey" Rita said trying to hide her face.

"You are; my shirt is all wet" He said feeling the weight of his actions even more.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little sad, but don't worry about a thing, we will be fine" She said kissing his head and hugging him harder.

"If you had the chance what would you do to the man who killed your son?" He said looking at her in the eyes.

"Don't worry about that honey, the police will take care of him…" She answered a little surprised at his question "… I know you think the man who did this deserves to die… and that you wish you could do it yourself, I feel the same way…" She said containing a sob "…but that would make us no better that him"

Will stared at her contemplating her answer and said almost in a whisper "I'm exhausted, I'm going to bed" He said getting up as fast as he could, once he reached the bathroom, he threw up.

-

The next day was spent chasing Thomas Marshall and Eric Gomez, they were like ghosts, Marshall's mother said he hadn't seen his scumbag son for at least a year, and her neighbors confirmed, they haven't been in touch since the boy was convicted. And Gomez houses we're all empty, if he had something to do with the attack, he and apparently all his family members were long gone.

Morgan couldn't help to feel utterly frustrated, the one time it really matter to find the unsub, not that their others cases weren't, but this time it was special, it was personal, and for the way Hotch and Gideon had been acting, he was sure, something else was going on; and they couldn't seem to get a break. Reid was so on edge he hadn't drink coffee since the day before, convinced that if he did, he would have a heart attack. Even the usually standoffish Hotch was showing signs of frustration, when Garcia's new search came out empty. That's how Detective Greene found them when he knocked the door of their "headquarters".

"Agent Hotchner, I'm sorry I didn't report to help with your investigation before, but I had to take care of some business, now I'm free to help you were you need" Greene said surprised to see so many agents in the not so big room.

"Thank you for the offer, Detective…" Hotch said surprised he knew about their investigation and where to find them "…but this is a federal case now, we'll take care of it"

"Who told you about the investigation?" Morgan asked angrily.

"No one, I just assumed, you'd try to find whoever hurt your friend…" He said a little confused about their attitude.

"How did you found us?" Castleman joined the interrogation.

"…Well I was the one who arranged for you to stay here…I…I'm sorry did I miss something, I'm just trying to help" He said not really understanding what was going on.

After some consideration, Gideon spoke "We need help finding two suspects, Thomas Marshall and Eric Gomez, can you help us with that?..."

"Sure… I'll see what I can find and let you know" He said as confused as he was when he arrived.

"…and Detective…" Gideon continued.

"Yes?"

"…Don't tell anyone about this investigation"

He only nodded for an answer, he wanted to know what was going on but he had a strong feeling that the Agents wouldn't appreciate him asking, so he left with the two names in mind.

"What was that? I thought no local police involvement?" Agent Castleman asked angry and confused.

"Worst case scenario, he's our unsub, he feed us fake info to follow and we caught him, best case he finds the same we did, and we know for sure we can trust him" Gideon said explaining to Castleman's team, since he knew his team already knew his intentions.

"He might even find something useful" Reid added.

"How do we know the difference?" Nelson asked a little confused.

"We'll split…" Hotch said "…one team goes his way, the other continues our investigation"

"You profilers and your techniques are giving me a headache…" Brown said without realizing until it was out and they all were staring at him "I…I… didn't mean that, I…" He said suddenly looking not like the forty year man he was, but like a five year old that had just broke a glass.

"Is OK, Brown, relax, this is what we do for a living" Morgan said trying not to laugh.

"I totally see your point, the same happened to me when I started working with them…" Garcia said giggling in his face "…you get use to it"

His answer was a low grunt and he crossed his arms, which made even his team members laugh.

"Enough, joking around…" Hotch said with a hint of a smile in his face "… we still have things to do. Morgan what do you think about the bomb?"

"Well the materials and the making match the bombs used on the other two cases…" He said showing them the evidence bag that held it "… as Reid said before, everything the unsub used can be found on any hardware store and the instructions are in the internet, but this guy made his own improvements, he used better materials and more explosive chemicals, he is very meticulous and educated…" "How can you tell that from a pipe bomb" Brown interrupted him with an skeptical look on his face "…That's the beauty of profiling, Brown … There's really nothing new, what I found just confirms Reid profile white, under 25, very intelligent, very meticulous, a social outcast…" He finished a little frustrated.

"Damn it!!..." Reid said kicking the trashcan sitting next to his feet "… what do we do now? He yelled frustrated.

"We lost the case files…" Gideon said calmly "but the witnesses, the cops who investigated, the CSIs at the scenes still remain, if we talk to them…" "…and solve those cases, we'll solve this one…" Hotch said completing his idea.

"We tried that before remember…" Reid said almost whining.

"Yes, but we didn't get a chance to finish" Gideon said looking at Reid straight in the eyes, until Reid nodded back.

"Reid and Nelson check the bomb cases, Morgan and Garcia the beatings, Gideon and Brown the stabbings, Castleman and I will check the shootings"

"What about the rapes?" Reid asked.

"We all will work them, you'll talk to the cops, Gideon the witnesses, Morgan the family and I'll talk to the CSIs" Hotch answered.

Reid nodded enthusiastically, before grabbing his jacket ready to leave.

"Tomorrow, Spencer, will go tomorrow" Gideon said standing between him and the door.

"But…" He started saying "We're of no good liked this, we haven't slept in days, a goodnight sleep will help us see things more clearly…" Gideon interrupted him.

"I'll be in my room if anyone needs me" Reid answered angrily, he considered fighting his decision, how could they sleep with the J.J.'s attacker on the loose, how could they sleep with J.J. laying broken in the ICU, but part of him, the rational part, knew Gideon was right, he was so tired he could hardly walk straight, so he headed to his room, took his shoes off and throw himself to the bed, twenty minutes later he fell sleep.

-

"He went into his room" Morgan said when he came back to their headquarters after silently following Reid, he was concerned that in his anger he would do something stupid like going out by himself.

"Good, I'll stay here with the evidence…" Hotch said "…Gideon you should stay with Reid…" The older man nodded "…Garcia, I know is not protocol, but I don't want you to be alone… so you'll stay with Morgan" He said hesitantly to the technician.

"I…I…" Garcia said a little embarrassed, she teased a lot with Morgan, but the thought of sleeping with him in the same room made her blush.

"She'll stay with me…" Morgan answered for her "…Don't worry Girl, I'll cover my eyes while you change" He said winking at her.

"Better yet, I'll go into the bathroom" She said winking back and relaxing a little, the room had two beds and now was not the time or the place to let her mind wonder.

"Morgan, Garcia…" Hotch said seriously before they left "… I expect nothing but professional behavior from you two"

"Don't worry Hotch"

"Yes, boss" Morgan and Garcia said at the same time.

"Castleman, are your rooms ready?" Hotch said interrupting their teasing.

"Yeah, we're all set up" He answered smiling at Morgan and Garcia's interaction.

"Good, we'll meet back here at 7:00 am" Hotch said opening the door for the others agents to leave. Once he was alone, he sat on the edge of the bed, trying to convince himself that resting was their best move for now, he wanted to back Reid, time was of essence, but Gideon was right, they were too tired and making a mistake due to lack of sleep was something they could not afford now.

-

A/N Read and review!! Please!! I'm out of new chapters again I know I said I was almost done, and I was but the story just keeps growing, I swear it has a life of its own, I promise I'll do my best to update next week.

P.S, SLITH: I just wanna say thanks for your continued support, knowing my story is being read and liked by someone is what keeps me writing.

JJ-Reid-01: I'm glad you're enjoying my story!! I read "Just to let you know I love you" and I loved it, I'm a sucker for any kind of ship on TV, as well as Fanfic. I haven't started to read "Someone who's not me" yet I been very, very busy, but I promise as soon as I can I will read it and review.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Reid silently walk into J.J.'s new room, which was covered in darkness, except for the light of the heart monitor and the ventilator, which gave J.J.'s features an eerie look, he pulled a chair from the corner and sat next to the bed, holding her hand, that action alone was so soothing that Reid could feel the stress leaving him and sleep soon enveloped him, until he felt a squeeze in his hand, opening his eyes he turned to look at his friend. "J.J.?!... You're awake… Thank God… Hi… how are you feeling?" Reid said excited.

"J.J.?..." He said again when the only answer he got was a stare, thinking she was confused he continued "…it's OK, you're in the hospital, a bomb went off in the police station when you were inside and you got hurt, but your doctor says you're going to be fine" He said holding her hand, but his joy turned into confusion when she pulled away from him with amazing strength for someone in her condition.

"J.J.?! is everything OK?" He asked utterly confused.

"Leave!!" J.J. yelled.

"What?... why?" Reid asked even more confused and hurt than before.

"You weren't with me when I needed you…" She said angrily "… you left me alone in that barn, and I was lucky I didn't become dog food and you left me alone in the station, had I left a minute later, I'd be dead…" she finished running out of breathe while grabbing her side with a pained expression on her face "...I don't need you now!! LEAVE!"

Reid shocked remained in the same spot.

"Are you deaf?!... I don't want you here!! I HATE YOU!!" J.J. said with such venom in her voice that her tone alone was enough to push Reid to the floor.

"J.J., Calm down, you're gonna hurt yourself, if you want me to leave, I'll leave" He said almost crying from his spot on the floor.

But his only answer was an alarm and a flat line on the heart monitor.

"J.J…?" He said standing up quickly. "No, no, no!! J.J., please don't do this, don't leave me" He said shaking her desperately.

"Help, I need help, please!!" He screamed for what seemed like an eternity until a team came in with a crash car and started working on her, but after a few minutes they stopped and one of the doctors said sadly "Time of death…"

-

Reid opened his eyes and drew a shaky breathe; it was a dream, only a dream. He cleaned the sweat of his forehead with his arm and closed his eyes again but sleep eluded him, so after a few minutes he took his cell and dialed Prentiss number.

"What's happened Reid? Is everything OK?" Emily asked with a mix of grogginess and fear in her voice.

"Everything is fine, Prentiss… I just wanted to know if you were fine" Reid lied.

"Reid, it's 3 a.m., you didn't call to see if I was fine…" Prentiss said suspecting the reason he called.

"I… just I couldn't sleep and I thought, I…" Reid hesitated, before Prentiss interrupted "J.J. is fine, doctors and nurses are next to her at all times, she is sleeping peacefully… as I should be, by the way" She said jokingly.

"Sorry, I had this dream and I couldn't go back to sleep" Reid said a little ashamed, reminding Emily that although he was a genius and he'd been through a lot, he was still the baby of the team.

"It's OK, try not to worry, if anything changes you'll be the first to know" Emily said trying to comfort him, but not really knowing what else to say.

"Ok, thanks… bye" Reid said hanging up.

-

Gideon had been right, the next day they all met back at Hotch's room with renewed spirits and more energy, and after a quick breakfast and a call to check on J.J.'s condition, they all head out to complete their assignments.

"Hello, ma'am. I'm Agent Gideon from the FBI, this is Agent Brown…" Gideon said to the old lady that stood before them "… we'd like to ask you a few questions about your husband if that's alright with you" he continued politely.

"FBI?..." Linda Fitzgerald asked skeptically "…what's the FBI doing investigating the murder of a retired cop?"

"It seems that the death of your husband is related to other crimes, that's why the local police asked for our assistance" Gideon answered patiently.

"Another crime? Like a serial killer of something?" Ms. Fitzgerald asked doubtfully.

"Yes, ma'am. We're trying to find the connection between him and the other victims" Gideon answered once again.

"What can I do to help you" She said in a whisper.

"Did you know a man called Darren Wallace? Was your husband related to him somehow?" Brown spoke for the first time.

After a few minutes, she answered "I think he was a lawyer…"

"…Yes a defense attorney…" Gideon interrupted her.

"…Maybe my Tommy worked a case with him, but they couldn't have been friends he despised defense attorneys he said they helped put scumbag back on the streets…"

"I don't think that was the case here…" Gideon started "… We believe Wallace was killed for revenge, a client he couldn't get out…" Linda nodded in understanding.

"Did your husband talked to you about his work?" Gideon asked.

"Sometimes, he did, mostly happy cases, he didn't like worrying me…"

"Anything that stroke you, anything special?" Brown asked.

Linda shook her head "Nothing that stands out… he was a good man…" She said crying "… he helped a lot of people, why would anyone want to hurt him like that…" her voice broke "I… can't… help… you" She said between sobs.

"It's OK, ma'am…" Gideon said squeezing her shoulder "…we'll find whoever did this to your husband, I promise" He said looking her straight in the eyes.

-

"Hey, girl, has anyone ever said to you how loud you snore?" Morgan asked to Garcia laughing.

"I do not snore" Garcia answered a little outraged.

"Yes, you do…" Morgan began, before being interrupted "…OK, fine I snore, if you tell this to anyone I'll kill you" She said trying desperately trying to change the subject.

"Oh! I won't need to tell anyone, they'll find for themselves on the flight home" Morgan said laughing even louder.

"I won't sleep, is just a few hours…" Garcia answered playfully "… and you won't tell anyone" She finished with a stare that more than frightening was amusing, but Morgan decided to get serious.

"OK, I won't tell anyone… listen, girl…" With a tone that got Garcia's complete attention "…I know Hotch assigned us together and I'm thrilled to be riding with you, but you're not used to being in the field and the cases we're looking into are pretty gruesome and…" He hesitated "…And?…" Garcia asked "…and I don't think is something you should see, so I'd like to take you to the hospital and pick up Prentiss, you can keep and eye on J.J. and you won't have to see anything unpleasant" Morgan finished a little concerned that she would take this the wrong way.

"Really, can we do that?" Garcia said a little too excited, receiving just a nod for an answer.

"Yes, please, I hated the idea of going to the field, but I didn't want to disappoint you guys"

"Disappoint us? You couldn't do that, even if you tried…" Morgan said with a smile on his face "…why don't you call Prentiss and tell her we're on our way, give her a chance to smooth her hair, wash her face and do all the stuff you girls do before going out to the street" Before he was finished Garcia was already on the phone.

-

Hotch's and Castleman's ride to the Children Services Office was pretty quiet, both men had a very standoffish nature and none of them were bothered by silence.

"We're here" Hotch spoke for the first time since he said good morning a while ago.

Once they were inside the building they asked for directions and were led to Nathan Jackson's office.

"Mr. Jackson, I'm Agent Hotchner, he is Agent Castleman, were here to ask you a few questions about Martha Rodriguez" Hotch said cutting to the chase.

"Sure, come in, what do you need to know?" Nathan asked politely.

"Did you know Ms. Rodriguez?" Hotch ask.

"Only for a brief time, she retired a month after I got here"

"Do you know why did she retire early?" Castleman asked.

"Not really, like I said I didn't know her that well, but in this line of job, the reason is almost always the same, too many kids in trouble, too many shattered families, social workers, specially the dedicated ones burn their full pretty quickly" Nathan answered almost sadly.

"We like to see the cases she worked on, can you help us?" Hotch asked.

"Well, lucky for you we put all of our records on the computers last year, we just have to do a little search" He said writing Martha Rodriguez name on the search box.

While the search engine did its work Jackson took out a CD and when the search was done, he burned all the information in it "Here are all her cases, you can look at the information and if you have any questions call me I'll see what I can do to help you" He said giving Hotch the CD and his card.

"Thank you, Mr. Jackson" Castleman said while they left.

"Let's go to talk to mall employees" Hotch said getting into the SUV.

-

"Ma'am, can you think of someone who wanted to hurt your husband" Reid and Agent Brown were interrogating Kate Miller, the widow of John Miller.

"Well John had quite a temper, he didn't take bullshit from anyone and that's never a friend magnet, but he was a good man, he loved our kids, even if they weren't really ours…" Ms. Miller said "…even if not many people liked him, I can't think of anyone wanting to blow him up!..." She said coldly "…and our only home along with him" she continued with a mix of sadness and anger in her voice.

"What about your foster kids?..." Nelson asked "…anyone violent enough to do something like this"

"Most of this kids come from violent homes, so yeah! They're violent enough, but none smart enough to make a bomb and not blow themselves in the process"

"Maybe you're underestimating them" Reid said a little offended.

"Don't get me the wrong way, Agent…" Kate Miller said annoyed "…I'm not saying that there are not smart kids here, I'm just saying that the ones that are smart enough are not violent enough"

Both agents remained silent contemplating her silence, until Reid spoke again. "Or smart enough not to do it themselves…"

"What?" Both Kate and Agent Nelson asked.

"Nothing, I'm rambling…" He said distracted "…you said they're many violent kids, anyone special, too violent even for his background"

"Let me show you something…" Kate Miller said walking into one of the rooms of her new house and began searching in the boxes "…this are some of the things that survived the fire" She explained while she continued her search.

"Here it is… A few years ago, one of our kids beat John, pretty badly, he sent him to the hospital…" She said turning the pages of what looked like and photo album.

"Why?" Reid asked curiously.

"I… I don't remember, I think John was nagging him about his homework… or something" She answered nervously.

Reid didn't really believe her, but nodded for her to continue.

"…anyway… we took a family photo every year… Here he is" She said pointing at a very tall and skinny boy "…his name is Shane"

"How did he do it?" Brown asked finding it hard to believe that such a skinny boy could've beaten a man that badly.

"He used a baseball bat" She answered calmly.

"What happened to Shane after he attacked your husband?" Nelson asked.

"The system took care of him" Kate said shrugging.

-

"The system took care of him?" What's that supposed to mean Nelson asked a little outraged.

"Most likely that he was sent to juvie, but I'll asked Garcia to find out" Reid said a little pensive.

"It's just me or that woman looked sadder about losing her house, than losing her husband?" Nelson asked once again.

"No, I thought the same and did you notice her behavior when I asked why the kid beat her husband" Reid

"She was hiding something"

Reid nodded in response as he pulled out his cell to call Garcia.

-

"Hi, sweetie…" Garcia said when she saw a very tired Prentiss walk towards her "…how did you spend the night?"

"Well, J.J. slept peacefully all night, me on the other hand had very little sleep…" She said yawning a little "… who knew those chairs were so uncomfortable" She left out that every time and alarm went of, a nurse passed running next to her or a doctor came close to her, she got up, fearing something was wrong with J.J. and that a certain genius decided to call in the middle of the night.

"If you want I can go with Morgan, you need some rest" Garcia said rubbing Prentiss back.

"No, it's OK, I'm not very fond of hospitals, besides I can help J.J. better out there, you can work your magic, from anywhere with a computer and a wireless connection" She said half joking, half serious.

"You have a point…" Garcia said patting her laptop "…Morgan is outside, you better hurry before he has to move the SUV"

"OK, call if you guys need anything" Prentiss said while she headed to the elevators.

"Yeah! You too" Garcia said while she seated next to a snoring Agent Harris.

-

Once Morgan and Prentiss got to the school where Roger Morris, ex-marine turned P.E. teacher used to worked, they were lead to the Principal's Office.

"Men, I can't remember the last time I was brought to an office like this" Morgan said reminiscing old times.

"Wasn't just last week that Hotch called you to his office and gave you a speech about…" Prentiss started saying with a joking tone when he interrupted her "…I mean the Principal's office, Prentiss" "…I know…" She said smiling, but before their bantering could continue an old man maybe in his sixties opened the door.

"Are you the FBI agents?"

"Yes, sir" Morgan said standing a little straighter, he wouldn't admit it specially in front of Emily, but after all this years he still got this feeling whenever they went to a school that we was going to get caught and grounded.

"Come in please…" He said heading to his desk "…what can I do for you?"

"We want to ask you some questions about Roger Morris?" Prentiss said still standing.

"Oh! Please take a seat… sure, sure… Roger he was a good man, very loved teacher, I still can believe he is dead" Principal Reynolds said sadly.

"Were you close to him" Morgan asked politely.

"Yes, all of us… the teachers I mean… are, we spent together a lot of time and with a job like this, we need someone who understands what we do" He said seriously.

"A job like yours?..." Morgan asked doubtfully.

"Yes, teaching… is not like it used to… when I was younger, school rules were like the commandments, everyone obeyed, what we said was done… kids these days, they're out of control, everyone wonders what's wrong with the word, they can't explain why things are the way they are, and all they have to do to find out is take a look at our youth, never in my life I would imagine students shooting at their teachers, at their classmates, its…" he sighed sadly "… like I said teaching is not like it used to… anyway, I'm rambling we were talking about Roger…"

Morgan nodded in response.

"…We ate lunched together everyday, and from time to time we organized a BBQ, for all the staff" Principal Reynolds continued.

"Did he ever have trouble with any student?" Prentiss asked.

"Like I said he was very loved, but not without his detractors, he was very strict, he coached the baseball team, and a few months ago, there was sort of a scandal, he caught a few of the players smoking pot in the locker room, so he turn them in and took them out of the team, which didn't sue well with their parents or the rest of the team, they were the stars, to me is not a big deal, and if you had asked me ten years ago if it was reason enough to kill someone I'd said ABSOLUTELY NO, but now I don't know"

"Can you give us the names of the kids involved…" Prentiss asked

"Sure, I'll ask my secretary to give you the file"

"Besides that incident, is there anything else you think we should know, anything he told you about during those lunches?" Morgan asked not wanting to leave anything out.

"Nothing I can think of" He answered.

"Well, thank you very much, here's my card in case you remember something else" Morgan said giving him the little card and shaking his hand as a goodbye.

-

Garcia sat next to Agent Harris for almost an hour before she woke up with start.

"Hello, Agent Harris, did you sleep well?" Garcia said trying to focus in her laptop instead of the dried saliva in the Agent's face.

"Hi, where is Agent Prentiss?" She asked when she didn't see the other woman.

"She left with Agent Morgan when you were sleeping…" She said without looking at the woman "…I'm your partner now" she said turning her head briefly to smile at the woman.

"OK, listen do you mind if a go to the bathroom for a few minutes"

"Go ahead, I'll be right here"

A few minutes after Harris was gone, the ICU doors opened revealing a nurse that started reading a list with the names of the patients of the ICU, once they heard the name of their loved ones, family members walked to her to receive a scrub, a cap and something to cover their mouth before they could go in.

"Jennifer Jareau" Garcia hear after a couple of names, Harris wasn't back yet, but she wanted to see her friend, so she turned her computer down and headed to the ICU doors.

-

"Hi, honey, hi!!..." Garcia said wiping her tears, now she understood why Reid was so bumped down a few days ago "…Sorry I haven't come see you, but I've been helping the guys figure out who did this to you and besides this place sucks visiting hours last 20 freaking minutes, what the hell happened to visiting HOURS I do not know…" She rambled on while stroking her face "…you're not going to believe what happened yesterday… I slept with the one and only Derek Morgan…" She kept silent kind of expecting a WHAT!! coming from J.J.'s lips "…well not slept, slept, more like we slept in the same room, but nothing happened, he slept in his bed, I slept in my bed…mhmhmh!" she sighed dreamily "…did you know Morgan sleeps on his boxers, let me tell you girl, when I call him greek chocolate god, I'm not exaggerating" she finished with a sad laugh.

"You know…" she hold J.J.'s hand and started to speak again this time with a sad tone on her voice "…I don't think I've ever told you how much you mean to me…" she sobbed "…since my parents died I've been on my own, until I started working with you guys, you all became my family…" she took a deep breath to compose herself "… you're my sister, my confidant, my best friend, just don't tell Reid I don't want him to get jealous…" Before she could continue a doctor and a nurse walked into the cubicle.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Lopez, head of the ICU, this is Nurse Devereux and we're here to check on Jennifer" The doctor said.

"Oh! OK, do I have to leave?..." Garcia said wiping her tears and hoping she could stay.

"No, it's OK, visiting hours are short enough" The doctor said sympathetically.

"That's what I keep telling J.J… Jennifer" She said pointing at her unconscious friend a little embarrassed.

"It's OK, Honey…" The nurse said kindly "…is good you talk to her"

After a few silent moments, in which the ICU personal checked the monitors, wrote in a chart, checked the IVs and wrote in a chart, checked the ventilator and a funny looking plastic box and a funny looking bag and God knows what else, and wrote on the freaking chart, Garcia had to speak

"What is that?" She said pointing at the funny looking box.

"It's called PleuroVac it drains the blood and the air from the bag surrounding Jennifer's lung, so it doesn't collapse again…" The doctor said as simply as he could.

"And this?" She pointed at the funny looking bag.

"It's a urine bag" The nurse said.

"Oh so it's connected to…" she said moving wildly her left hand "…you know never mind I ask too much" Garcia said embarrassed once again.

"It's OK honey, many family members feel better when they know what all these things do" Nurse Devereux said again.

"So how is she?" Garcia said abruptly, she was concerned, but she was afraid of receiving bad news.

"She's doing much better… " Doctor Lopez said "… the PleuroVac hasn't drained any blood in almost twelve hours, there's no sign of infection on her wounds and her vitals are stable, so where getting ready to wean her off the ventilator…" Doctor Lopez continued when he saw Garcia face of confusion "…we're going to reduce sedation, not enough for her to wake up, but enough for her to start breathing on her own… and we're going to change the set up of the ventilator, she's going to start every breath and the ventilator is going to finish it, if her vitals and her oxygen saturation remain stable we're going to take her off the ventilator and take her to a private room upstairs in the trauma floor" He finished with a sigh.

"You heard that J. your own private room!!" Garcia said excitedly patting her friend's hand.

"Well we all should go Miss?…" The Doctor said waiting for her to finish his sentence.

"…Garcia…"

"Miss Garcia visiting hours are over, you can come back in about six hours" He said politely guiding her to the door; where she shed all the clothes they made her put on just to get in and sat next to a very pissed Agent Harris.

-

"You almost gave me a heart attack! You could've told me you were going in! I thought someone had gotten to you! I…" Harris stopped when she saw Garcia's hurt expression "… just wait for me next time, I've met your friends and I wouldn't like to be the one to tell them something happened to you"

"Sorry…" Garcia started to say, but was interrupted by her cell phone "Garcia…"

"OK…" She answered to the person on the line "…I let you know what I found out…"

"Miss, you can't use your phone here" A nurse said angrily.

"I have to go, I'll call you, honey" She said hanging up to Reid.

"Sorry ma'am" Garcia said smiling apologetically.

"Who was that?" Harris asked Garcia.

"Reid, he wants me to run a few names" Garcia answered completely unaware of the man leaning casually into the nurse station, a few feet away from them, dressed as an orderly and listening intently to their conversation.

TBC

A/N: Here you go!! An extra long chapter, I hope you like it!!. J.J. is waking up next chapter!! Stay tuned, ja!!


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